Eyes on the Ocean: How to Report Wildlife Sightings!
| How often are you on a beach walk, out in your boat, or surfing the waves and you see dolphins, whales or other ocean animals? When you spot an animal it is a very exciting experience. You might even try to snap a photo so you can show your friends what a cool nature encounter you had. But does your encounter with wildlife go beyond that? For the sake of the animals, it should!
Data helps save animalsWhat is important to know is that there is not enough information collected on these animals. The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is responsible for managing species and they have told us they need more information so they can do this effectively. It is very helpful to know how many animals of each species are out there. Without a baseline figure, when many animals die, we can’t even be sure if we are seeing an increase in animal deaths, because we do not have the baseline information to know how many members of the species existed in the first place. Ocean wildlife field guideThere are such a wide diversity of animals off of our coast. Sometimes it is difficult to determine the difference between a bottlenose dolphin and a common dolphin or a sea lion from a seal. Saving Ocean Wildlife (SOW) has put together a Wildlife Field Guide of commonly seen species that is available for your use. This will be a dynamic document that we expand upon with additional ocean animals. This guide can be used as an easy reference to assist anyone in our community as they help with reporting animals they spot. Identifying and reporting animalsOur hope is that you will help with reporting live animals so we can pinpoint which animals are out there and in what numbers. For injured animals, please report any you may find so that we can alert the agencies responsible for investigation and possible rescue of the animal. Finally, please report any dead animals to us so that we can alert researchers who could go and study them to determine what is threatening their survival. Ultimately, your efforts of communicating through Saving Ocean Wildlife about what you see, helps the right organizations become aware of, and take steps to, address these problems. Thank you for having your Eyes on the Ocean to help us spot wildlife! |
FREE Ocean wildlife guide!
Report Ocean Animals Dead or in Distress
If you see it, PLEASE say it! Use our handy reporting tool any time you come across a dead or distressed ocean animal. This will immediately notify NOAA so they can get the appropriate organization involved to help remove or free the animal in need!
Ten Personal Actions You Can Take
Whether it is through a donation of time, money or resources or picking-up plastic trash, here are ten ideas for your personal action plan to save ocean wildlife!
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